The Lexus LM is a private jet on four wheels

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If you’re a well-heeled regular traveller it’s easy to get used to premium transportation, particularly if there’s a company willing to pick up the tab for business class flights and five-star accommodation. Lexus is tapping into the bit in-between with its new Lexus LM, which is like a private jet for A roads and motorways. It’s been designed to make short-hop shuttle runs and longer business trips much more agreeable.

Priced from £89,995 for a seven-seat edition, which rises to nearly £113K if you’re after the much more intimate four-seater alternative, the Lexus LM is the last word in luxury. It packs all the usual Lexus accoutrements, but everything has been dialled up to make its occupants feel totally pampered. Anyone doing the chauffeuring will not feel left out either as the driving position is almost as sumptuous as that found in the back.

Driving in style

The really interesting stuff is, naturally found in the back of the four-seater Takumi model. It has beautifully finished leather seats, which can be adjusted to suit your needs and fold flat if you’re looking to catch some zzz’s. In front of you, there’s a 48-inch screen that can be used for watching movies, but it also offers split-screen functionality so you can take part in multi-employee meetings while also doing a presentation.

Between the seats is a brace of smartphone-style controllers that allow you to set every feature and function just the way you like it if you can’t be bothered to press the many, many different buttons that are dotted around the interior. There are electric blinds, a superb multi-speaker sound system and full massage functionality in those seats for a complete on-the-go relaxation experience.

Behind the wheel

The Lexus LM is a treat to drive too, with a front cabin that’s just as nicely appointed as anything else in the current range. In fact, it’s just like being behind the wheel of a Lexus saloon, although a limited view out of the back thanks to that huge screen and electric divider means you need to rely on a digital rear view mirror and sizeable door mirrors most of the time.

Out on the road, the 2.5-litre hybrid engine also needs to be nursed carefully to keep things smooth for passengers. The CVT gearbox can tend to produce unwanted revving, which isn’t ideal if you’re trying not to wake paying customers. Push the Lexus LM gingerly though and it’s as smooth as silk and wafts along very nicely on carefully tweaked suspension that has been meticulously tuned for providing as smooth a ride as possible. There’s some roll in the corners, but when you consider the weight of all the tech inside that’s hardly surprising.

A growing market

Lexus could push the business jet on wheels thing a little harder we think by offering monogramed pillows, blankets, eye-masks and, perhaps, some of those posh pyjamas that folks get in premium flights.

Despite lots of countries currently being in the economic doldrums, the VIP shuttle market and the well-off business users and well-heeled tourists who use these things is buoyant. In fact, Lexus already has a packed order book for its posh people mover.

Granted, some solo travellers or particularly picky vacationing couples might prefer an executive saloon. But, as it stands, the Lexus LM is much more inviting than one of the many Mercedes Benz V-Class vans that pepper airport drop-offs across Europe and beyond if you’ve got a few people to get from A to B.